Balancing load among operational system zones

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are directed to conveyor systems and methods for controlling induction of items within the conveyor systems. In one scenario, a conveyor control system implements a hardware sensor in a conveyor system to generate sensor readings regarding an operational status of a first zone in an operational environment, where the first zone is an area where orders are fulfilled. The conveyor control system receives sensor data from the hardware sensor of the conveyor system. The sensor data includes feedback information for controlling the conveyor system. The conveyor control system then evaluates the received sensor data to determine which conveyable items are currently in the first zone and, based on the evaluation, induces the conveyable items onto the conveyor for the first zone.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/428,872, entitled “Balancing Load amongOperational System Zones,” filed on Dec. 1, 2016, which application isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Computing systems have become ubiquitous, ranging from small embeddeddevices to phones and tablets to PCs and backend servers. Each of thesecomputing systems is designed to process software code. The softwareallows users to perform functions, interacting with the hardwareprovided by the computing system. In some cases, these computing systemsmay be equipped with communication components such as wireless radios orwired network controllers. These communication components allow thecomputing systems to transmit and receive communications from othercomputing systems, as well as other devices. In some cases, thecommunication components allow the computing system to receive feedbackdata from devices or other systems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein are directed to conveyor systems andmethods for controlling induction of items within the conveyor systems.In one embodiment, a conveyor control system implements a hardwaresensor in a conveyor system to generate sensor readings regarding anoperational status of a first zone in an operational environment, wherethe first zone is an area where orders are fulfilled. The conveyorcontrol system receives sensor data from the hardware sensor of theconveyor system. The sensor data includes feedback information forcontrolling the conveyor system. The conveyor control system thenevaluates the received sensor data to determine which conveyable itemsare currently in the first zone and, based on the evaluation, inducesthe conveyable items onto the conveyor for the first zone.

In another embodiment, a conveyor system is provided which controls theflow of conveyable items on conveyors of the conveyor system. Theconveyor system also includes a hardware sensor configured to makesensor readings regarding an operational status of a first zone in theconveyor system. The conveyor system further includes an inductionsystem that determines the order in which conveyable items are producedand provided to the conveyor system by performing the following:receiving sensor data from the hardware sensor of the conveyor systemthat includes feedback for controlling the induction system, evaluatingthe received sensor data to determine which conveyable items arecurrently in at least the first zone and, based on the evaluation,inducing conveyable items onto a specified conveyor of the conveyorsystem in the first zone.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the descriptionwhich follows, and in part will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art from the description, or may be learned by the practice of theteachings herein. Features and advantages of embodiments describedherein may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments andcombinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Featuresof the embodiments described herein will become more fully apparent fromthe following description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other features of the embodimentsdescribed herein, a more particular description will be rendered byreference to the appended drawings. It is appreciated that thesedrawings depict only examples of the embodiments described herein andare therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. Theembodiments will be described and explained with additional specificityand detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer architecture in which embodimentsdescribed herein may operate including controlling the flow of itemswithin a conveyor system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a fulfillment center with multipleloading zones.

FIGS. 3A-3I illustrate embodiments in which conveyable items areproduced in a conveyor system.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for controlling theinduction of items within a conveyor system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein are directed to conveyor systems andmethods for controlling induction of items within the conveyor systems.In one embodiment, a conveyor control system implements a hardwaresensor in a conveyor system to generate sensor readings regarding anoperational status of a first zone in an operational environment, wherethe first zone is an area where orders are fulfilled. The conveyorcontrol system receives sensor data from the hardware sensor of theconveyor system. The sensor data includes feedback information forcontrolling the conveyor system. The conveyor control system thenevaluates the received sensor data to determine which conveyable itemsare currently in at least the first zone and, based on the evaluation,induces the conveyable items onto the conveyor for the first zone.

In another embodiment, a conveyor system is provided which controls theflow of conveyable items on conveyors of the conveyor system. Theconveyor system also includes a hardware sensor configured to makesensor readings regarding an operational status of a first zone in theconveyor system. The conveyor system further includes an inductionsystem that determines the order in which conveyable items are producedand provided to the conveyor system by performing the following:receiving sensor data from the hardware sensor of the conveyor systemthat includes feedback for controlling the induction system, evaluatingthe received sensor data to determine which conveyable items arecurrently in the first zone and, based on the evaluation, inducingconveyable items onto a specified conveyor of the conveyor system in thefirst zone.

The following discussion refers to a number of methods and method actsthat may be performed by one or more embodiments of the subject matterdisclosed herein. It should be noted, that although the method acts maybe discussed in a certain order or illustrated in a flow chart asoccurring in a particular order, no particular ordering is necessarilyrequired unless specifically stated, or required because an act isdependent on another act being completed prior to the act beingperformed.

Embodiments described herein may implement various types of computingsystems. These computing systems are now increasingly taking a widevariety of forms. Computing systems may, for example, be mobile phones,electronic appliances, laptop computers, tablet computers, wearabledevices, desktop computers, mainframes, and the like. As used herein,the term “computing system” includes any device, system, or combinationthereof that includes at least one processor, and a physical andtangible computer-readable memory capable of having thereoncomputer-executable instructions that are executable by the processor. Acomputing system may be distributed over a network environment and mayinclude multiple constituent computing systems.

A computing system typically includes at least one processing unit andmemory. The memory may be physical system memory, which may be volatile,non-volatile, or some combination of the two. The term “memory” may alsobe used herein to refer to non-volatile mass storage such as physicalstorage media or physical storage devices. If the computing system isdistributed, the processing, memory and/or storage capability may bedistributed as well.

As used herein, the term “executable module” or “executable component”can refer to software objects, routines, methods, or similarcomputer-executable instructions that may be executed on the computingsystem. The different components, modules, engines, and servicesdescribed herein may be implemented as objects or processes that executeon the computing system (e.g., as separate threads).

As described herein, a computing system may also contain communicationchannels that allow the computing system to communicate with othermessage processors over a wired or wireless network. Such communicationchannels may include hardware-based receivers, transmitters ortransceivers, which are configured to receive data, transmit data orperform both.

Embodiments described herein also include physical computer-readablemedia for carrying or storing computer-executable instructions and/ordata structures. Such computer-readable media can be any availablephysical media that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computing system.

Computer storage media are physical hardware storage media that storecomputer-executable instructions and/or data structures. Physicalhardware storage media include computer hardware, such as RAM, ROM,EEPROM, solid state drives (“SSDs”), flash memory, phase-change memory(“PCM”), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other hardware storage device(s) which can beused to store program code in the form of computer-executableinstructions or data structures, which can be accessed and executed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computing system to implement thedisclosed functionality of the embodiments described herein. The datastructures may include primitive types (e.g. character, double,floating-point), composite types (e.g. array, record, union, etc.),abstract data types (e.g. container, list, set, stack, tree, etc.),hashes, graphs or any other types of data structures.

As used herein, computer-executable instructions comprise instructionsand data which, when executed at one or more processors, cause ageneral-purpose computing system, special-purpose computing system, orspecial-purpose processing device to perform a certain function or groupof functions. Computer-executable instructions may be, for example,binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, oreven source code.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles describedherein may be practiced in network computing environments with manytypes of computing system configurations, including, personal computers,desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, hand-helddevices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,mobile telephones, PDAs, tablets, pagers, routers, switches, and thelike. The embodiments herein may also be practiced in distributed systemenvironments where local and remote computing systems, which are linked(either by hardwired data links, wireless data links, or by acombination of hardwired and wireless data links) through a network,both perform tasks. As such, in a distributed system environment, acomputing system may include a plurality of constituent computingsystems. In a distributed system environment, program modules may belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the embodimentsherein may be practiced in a cloud computing environment. Cloudcomputing environments may be distributed, although this is notrequired. When distributed, cloud computing environments may bedistributed internationally within an organization and/or havecomponents possessed across multiple organizations. In this descriptionand the following claims, “cloud computing” is defined as a model forenabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurablecomputing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, andservices). The definition of “cloud computing” is not limited to any ofthe other numerous advantages that can be obtained from such a modelwhen properly deployed.

Still further, system architectures described herein can include aplurality of independent components that each contribute to thefunctionality of the system as a whole. This modularity allows forincreased flexibility when approaching issues of platform scalabilityand, to this end, provides a variety of advantages. System complexityand growth can be managed more easily through the use of smaller-scaleparts with limited functional scope. Platform fault tolerance isenhanced through the use of these loosely coupled modules. Individualcomponents can be grown incrementally as business needs dictate. Modulardevelopment also translates to decreased time to market for newfunctionality. New functionality can be added or subtracted withoutimpacting the core system.

Referring to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a computer architecture 100in which at least one embodiment described herein may be employed. Thecomputer architecture 100 includes a computer system 101. The computersystem 101 includes at least one processor 102 and some system memory.The computer system 101 may be any type of local or distributed computersystem, including a cloud computer system. The computer system 101includes modules for performing a variety of different functions. Forinstance, a communications module may be configured to communicate withother computer systems. The communications module may include any wiredor wireless communication means that can receive and/or transmit data toor from other computer systems. The communications module may beconfigured to interact with databases, mobile computing devices (such asmobile phones or tablets), embedded or other types of computer systems.

The computer system 101 further includes a data accessor 103. The dataaccessor 103 may be configured to access data from a conveyor system inan operational environment 110. The operational environment 110 may beany type of warehouse, fulfillment center, distribution center, factoryor other environment in which conveyors are used. The data received andaccessed by the data accessor 103 is sensor data 109 from one or morehardware sensors in the conveyor system 111.

For instance, a conveyor system 111 may have different zones (e.g. zone1 (113A) and zone 2 (113B)). These zones may be areas or positions whereoperational workers place items in containers for shipment, for example.Each zone may have a hardware sensor (e.g. 112A and 112B) thatdetermines when a container or other conveyable item is within thatzone. Thus, if conveyor 114 loops through multiple zones including zones1 and 2, the hardware sensors 112A and 112B would indicate whether otherconveyable items were currently in those zones. Depending on which typesof sensors are being used, the computer system 101 may identify exactlywhich items are in each zone. For instance, a bar code reader mayidentify each item uniquely, and provide an indication of its currentlocation.

In other embodiments, different types of hardware sensors may be used.For example, hardware sensors 112A and 112B may be placed throughout theoperational environment 110, including on the conveyor 114 and in thevarious zones (e.g. 113A, 113B or others). The hardware sensors may beprogrammed to relay sensor data 109 pertaining to the current positionof packable items or equipment. Furthermore, the sensor data 109 mayrelate to the current trajectory of the items or equipment being movedon the conveyor, or physical characteristics of the items or equipment,etc. These characteristics or locations or trajectories may be measuredby visible or invisible light sensors, weight sensors, pressure sensors,temperature sensors, cameras, acoustic sensors, inertial sensors orother types of sensors. Indeed, substantially any type of hardwaresensor may be used in the operational environment 110.

Some sensors, such as piezoelectric sensors, may be placed at certainlocations within the operational environment 110, for example, tomeasure changes in pressure, acceleration, force, strain or temperature.These sensor measurements may be used to identify where a piece ofequipment currently is (as evidenced by changes in pressure or weight ata certain point on the conveyor), what trajectory that piece ofequipment is following, what the equipment currently looks like or whatis currently in the equipment (using side-mounted or top-mountedcameras), which packable items are currently located in each zone, whichworkers are currently located in a given zone (e.g. using weight orinfrared sensors capable of detecting body heat), or any number of othertype of feedback sensor data 118 that would be useful in determiningwhether to produce and/or release a given piece of equipment.

Hardware radios including Bluetooth radios, radio-frequencyidentification (RFID), WiFi, Cellular, global positioning system (GPS)or other radios may be used to communicate with radios or transceiversembedded in the pieces of equipment and/or within the conveyable items108. The radios may use signals from the embedded radios to determinecurrent location, current trajectory, current contents, or otherinformation about the equipment or its contents. These hardware radiosmay also be in communication with mobile electronic devices used byworkers or used at workstations within the operational environment.Internet of Things (TOT) devices may communicate using such radios, andmay be programmed to communicate information about the equipment andconveyable items to a central server and/or the conveyor control system101. The TOT devices may also communicate with the various hardwaresensors. Thus, the conveyor control system may receive a variety ofinputs from hardware devices, sensors and radios to control productionof equipment and to further control where the equipment is going withinthe operational environment 110.

Sensor data 109 is sent to computer system 101 on a continual basis. Insome cases, it should be noted, the computer system 101 may be part ofoperational environment and may be integrated into the conveyor system111. In other cases, the computer system 101 is separate from theconveyor system 111, and receives the sensor data 109 via a wired orwireless transmission to the communications module of the computersystem. Once the sensor data is received at the computer system 101, thefeedback analyzer 104 analyzes the data sent as feedback to the computersystem. The sensor data may indicate how the conveyor system iscurrently operating, whether the conveyor system is operating withinnormal parameters, where conveyable items are located on the conveyor114, etc. This data may be used as feedback to control how the conveyorsystem 111 is operating.

For example, the inducement module 105 may control when conveyable items108 are induced or provided to the conveyor 114. The equipmentproduction machine 106 may be configured to produce conveyable itemssuch as boxes, and provide those items to the conveyor system 111. Theequipment production machine 106 may take pre-manufactured or rawmaterials 107 and generate the boxes or other conveyable items. Theequipment production machine 106 may be configured such that it producesthese conveyable item 108 and induces them into the conveyor system 111at specified times to reduce bottlenecks and traffic jams within theconveyor system.

For instance, as shown in FIG. 2, a fulfillment center 200 is shown. Thefulfillment center 200 includes a conveyor 201 that snakes throughvarious pick zones 1-5 (i.e. 202A-202E). Mechanical arms on the conveyorsystem 111 from FIG. 1 can be used to guide boxes to different zonesonce they are produced. However, if there are too many boxes in any onezone, backups may occur which reduces productivity. For example, if eachzone includes shelves and bins full of packable items that are used tofulfill customer orders, each zone may be capable of filling a certainnumber of orders per minute or per hour. Moreover, each zone may havedifferent goods that are to be placed into the boxes to fulfill theorders. Accordingly, boxes may be generated at the induction area 203using one or more of the equipment production machines 204. The boxesmay be generated in a manner that maximizes the productivity of theworkers in the various zones, and minimizes traffic jams within thezones.

Indeed, in some fulfillment/distribution centers, customer orders forgoods are packed by using conveyor systems that transport empty boxes topick zones where the products are “picked” or placed into the boxes tofulfill the orders. Each pick zone is able to handle a certain amount ofload before becoming backed up. The amount of load depends on the sizeof the pick zone, the number of workers operating the pick zone, thenumber of packable items at the pick zone, etc. By generating the boxesat specific times, the conveyor control system 101 can regulate flow ofboxes among zones. This flow regulation may be referred to as loadleveling herein.

In some cases, load leveling may be performed by grouping the boxes intospecified groups based on first pick zone (and in some cases additionalpick zones for the boxes). Each group holds 1 . . . n pick zones. Thesegroups are assigned a specified ratio that the box induction systemmaintains. The ratio is based on the estimated number of packable itemsin each pick zone and the number of pickers in each zone, where thelater pick zones have a lower ratio compared to the first because it islikely that a box that has zone 1 as the first pick zone also needs tostop at additional pick zones. Embodiments described herein induce boxesbased on current load at each pick zone. This includes the number ofboxes within each pick zone, as well as the number of boxes at otherzones with stops at the specific pick zone.

In some cases, varying amounts of information is available from theoperational environment 110. For instance, if only zone 1 (113A) has asensor, then production decisions for boxes that are to travel to otherzones may be based on extrapolated data. If the first pick zone iscurrently available according to the sensor data 109, the equipmentproduction machine 106 could produce and distribute boxes to the firstpick zone according to a preferred box count for that zone. Thispreferred box count may be adjusted to take into account multiple stopsfor boxes if packable items from other pick zones are needed to fulfillthe order.

For example, the latter pick zones (i.e. 2-5) may need a lower preferredbox count due to the fact that, at least in some cases, it is likelythat a box with first pick zone 1 also needs products from pick zone 5.This can be achieved with feedback from the conveyor system 111including sensor data 109 received from the pick zones so that theconveyor control system 101 knows the number of boxes at each pick zone.Such embodiments can also take into account the pick rate at each pickzone so that the box count at the pick zone is a function of the pickrate at that zone. The equipment production machine 106 would producethe next box based on the pick zone that is furthest from the preferredbox count. If all pick zones are at capacity, the equipment productionmachine 106 would not induce any new boxes onto the conveyor until apick zone has an available slot.

If all pick zones are available, the equipment production machine 106may have a numerical limit for the number of boxes that can be sent toeach pick zone at any given time. This may include the number of boxesat the pick zone (e.g. 113A) and also the number of boxes in theconveyor system 111 with a specific pick zone as an upcomingdestination. In one example, additional boxes for pick zone 5, forexample, may be induced if the current boxes with pick zone 5 have as anupcoming destination within the conveyor system multiple stops beforereaching pick zone 5. Utilizing feedback from the zones allows theconveyor control system 101 to get the current pick zone location of allthe boxes within the conveyor system 111.

Additionally, if the packable items at each pick zone are available tothe equipment production machine 106, further optimization may beprovided. For example, if box A has one packable item at pick zone 1 andpick zone 2 as an upcoming destination for the box, the equipmentproduction machine 106 might not produce a second box (box B) that needsto go to pick zone 2 due to induction and transportation time to reachpick zone 2 from the induction area (as box A and box B may arrive atpick zone 2 at the same time). If however, box A has five picks at pickzone 1, the conveyor control system 101 might determine that it caninduce box B to pick zone 2 due to the fact that box 1 will take longerat pick zone 1 getting the five items. The conveyor control system 101may further determine that boxes currently in pick zone 2 would bepicked and transported to the next destination before box B reached pickzone 2. Other types of feedback from within the system may be used inaddition to or as an alternative to any knowledge about which boxes arebeing fulfilled and where the boxes need to go for fulfillment. Forinstance, pick rate at each zone may used to determine when to induceboxes into the system.

Methods used to achieve this load leveling may use the ability to stopand start induction to a specific pick zone before the limit is reachedfor that pick zone in order to handle unexpected fluctuation in pickrate. These fluctuation could happen due to time needed for replenishingthe packable items, breaks for workers, mechanical failure of theconveyor 114, spilled contents, etc. Once the pick zone is reactivated,the equipment production machine 106 would produce more boxes for thatpick zone due to the fact that the pick zone would be furthest away fromits load limit.

In one embodiment, a conveyor system 111 is provided which includes aconveyor control system 101. The conveyor control system controls theflow of conveyable items on conveyor 114 of the conveyor system. Theconveyor system 111 includes one or more hardware sensors 112A/112Bwhich are configured to make sensor readings regarding an operationalstatus of pick zones in the conveyor system (e.g. 113A/113B). Theconveyor control system also includes an induction system thatdetermines the order in which conveyable items are produced and providedto the conveyor system. The induction system may include, for example,data accessor 103, feedback analyzer 104, inducement module 105 and/orequipment production machine 106. The data accessor 103 receives andaccesses sensor data 109 from the hardware sensor(s) 112A of theconveyor system 111. The sensor data includes feedback regarding theoperational status of the conveyor system 111. This feedback may be usedto control the induction system, and specifically the order in whichconveyable items 108 are produced by the equipment production machine106.

The feedback analyzer 104 of the induction system evaluates the receivedsensor data 109 to determine which conveyable items 108 are currently inthe first zone and, based on the evaluation, the inducement module 105induces one or more conveyable items onto a specified conveyor 114 ofthe conveyor system 111 in the first zone 113A. The conveyable items maybe generated in a specified order that avoids traffic jams at differentpick zones. The feedback analyzer may take a variety of differentfactors into account including where packable items are located in thevarious pick zones, how many workers are available to place packableitems into boxes, which pick zones the boxes need to go to be fulfilled,as well as a reading of which zones currently have boxes in them. Theinducement module 105 take any or all of these factors (including othersthat may affect the conveyor system 111) into consideration whendetermining which boxes to generate and at which time.

It should be understood that the equipment production machine 106 may beconfigured to produce a variety of different items, although, forsimplicity's sake, boxes will be focused on herein. The equipmentproduction machine 106 may thus produce a variety of different boxes.These boxes may be of different shapes and sizes, and may have differentload capacities. Each box may be generated from raw materials 107, orfrom pre-manufactured materials such as cardboard. The equipmentproduction machine 106 may, in some cases, be configured to accesscardboard sheets and move, fold, seal and otherwise manipulate thecardboard to create different size boxes. The creation and/or inductionof these boxes is on-demand, as orders are received. However, the boxesare not always created immediately as orders are received, as that maylead to traffic jams in the conveyor system 111. Thus, feedback from theconveyor system is provided to the induction system, which takes manydifferent factors into account when determining when to create a box.Controlling when boxes are generated can then level the load across thevarious pick zones.

For instance, assume an order is received that requires three packableitems to be fulfilled. Further, assume that one of these packable itemsis in zone 1 (113A) and that two of the items are in zone 2 (113B). Thefeedback analyzer may look at sensor data 109 indicating how many boxesare currently in zones 1 and 2, and may further determine the loadingcapacity for those zones based on the number of workers currentlyworking in those pick zones. Other factors may also be considered,including urgent orders (overnight mail) or custom orders. Production ofboxes to fulfill such orders may be expedited. In most cases, however,the induction system will look at one or more of the factors anddetermine the best time to create and induce the box onto the conveyor114 so that the box arrives at zone 1 at an opportune time forfulfillment (and avoiding traffic jams), and then also arrives at zone 2down the conveyor line at an opportune time. Factors for other zones mayalso be taken into consideration if more than two zones are used (suchas in FIG. 2).

The conveyor system 111 may include control arm that, when actuated,prevent or allow conveyable items onto the conveyor system. The controlarms may also be used to route the boxes to different pick zones. Thecontrol arms may be used in conjunction with the equipment productionmachine 106 to control the flow of boxes on the conveyor 114 to thedifferent zones. The boxes may be generated by the equipment productionmachine 106 at the optimal time, based on current conditions in theconveyor system, and the control arms may be used to hold back boxeswhen needed before allowing them onto the conveyor 114, and can furtherbe used to route the boxes directly to different zones. For example, ifa box in FIG. 2 needs to go directly to zone 5, it may be routeddirectly to pick zone 5 without traveling through pick zones 1-4.

The induction system may include a local processor, or may have accessto distributed processing such as that provided by the cloud. Theprocessor may perform the evaluation of the received sensor data 109 todetermine which conveyable items are currently in each zone, and whichshould be produced based on the currently pending orders and the currentnumber of boxes already in each pick zone. The feedback data from theconveyor system 111 allows the processor to adjust the time of boxcreation by the equipment production machine 106 in order to level theload across the various pick zones. As mentioned previously, thefeedback data from the conveyor system may include a current pick zonelocation for each of the boxes within the conveyor system, and may alsoinclude a current pick rate at each zone (i.e. the rate at whichpackable items are being taken off shelves and placed into boxes forshipment.

Accordingly, the conveyor system 111 may track the location of each boxas it travels through the conveyor system. This may be accomplishedusing hardware sensors at each pick zone, using visual inspections ofboxes (e.g. taking images of boxes as they pass by an image creationdevice such as a camera), by scanning radio frequency identifier (RFID)tags as the boxes pass an RFID reader, or using some other method ofidentifying boxes as they pass in and out of pick zones. FIGS. 3A-3Iillustrate an embodiment in which 10 different boxes are produced androuted through a conveyor system for fulfillment. FIG. 3A shows “Example1—1st box”, indicating that FIG. 3A shows how routing and productiontiming decisions regarding box 1.

Chart 301 indicates the pick zones that will be needed in order tofulfill the order associated with box 1. Specifically, chart 301indicates that box 1 will need to travel to pick zones 1, 4 and 5 forfulfillment. FIG. 3B shows that box 1 (B1) is now on the conveyor of theconveyor system 303. Chart 302 indicates that box 1 has been assigned topick zone 1, and that pick zone 1 has a sum of one boxes in it. FIG. 3Cindicates that box B1 is now in slot 1 of pick zone 1, and that box B4is the next box to be selected for processing and induction into theconveyor system 303. As chart 301 indicates, box B4 is headed to pickzones 2, 4 and 5. As pick zone 2 is currently empty, box B4 is senttheir next, ahead of boxes 2 and 3, which are headed to pick zones whichwill be used in the fulfillment of box 2. As pick zone 2 will not beused in the fulfillment of box B1, box B4 can be sent their immediately.

Chart 302 indicates now that, according to sensors, box B1 is in pickzone 1, that box B4 is assigned to pick zone 2, and that box B1 will beheaded next to pick zone 4. This process continues and can be followedthrough FIGS. 3D-3I. As timing and routing is considered for each boxB1-B10, the boxes are generated in an order that will level the loadacross all of the pick zones. These concepts will be explained furtherbelow with regard to method 400 of FIG. 4.

In view of the systems and architectures described above, methodologiesthat may be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matterwill be better appreciated with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 4.For purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shownand described as a series of blocks. However, it should be understoodand appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by theorder of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and describedherein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required toimplement the methodologies described hereinafter.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method 400 for controlling inductionof items within a conveyor system. The method 400 will now be describedwith frequent reference to the components and data of environment 100 ofFIG. 1.

Method 400 includes implementing at least one hardware sensor in aconveyor system to generate sensor readings regarding an operationalstatus of at least a first zone in an operational environment, the firstzone comprising an area where orders are fulfilled (410). For example,hardware sensor 112A may be used in conveyor system 111 to generatesensor data indicating the operational status of equipment and/orpersonnel within a given pick zone or other area. The operational statusdata may indicate which conveyors are currently operating, which pickzones have workers in them and how many workers there are, which pickzones are fully stocked on packable items and which are low, which pickzones currently have boxes in them or assigned to them and when thoseboxes arrived in the pick zone, along with other data including pickrate data which indicates how fast boxes are being filled at a givenpick zone.

Method 400 next includes receiving sensor data 109 from the hardwaresensor 112A of the conveyor system 111, where the sensor data comprisesfeedback information for controlling the conveyor system (420). Thefeedback analyzer 104 looks at the sensor data 109 to determine whichconveyable items are currently in the first zone (430). Thus, using thesensor data 109, the feedback analyzer may identify which boxes are ineach pick zone of the conveyor system 111. Then, based on theevaluation, the inducement module 105 induces one or more conveyableitems onto the conveyor for the first zone. (440). The process may berepeated for each pick zone in the conveyor system 111 and/or for eachbox that is used to fulfill an order.

As indicated above, the operational environment 111 includes multiplepick zones including the first zone 113A and a second zone 113B. Each ofthe pick zones has its own hardware sensor 112A/112B configured togenerate sensor readings regarding the operational status of itsrespective zone. The operational status may indicate, for example, howmany boxes are currently located in a given zone. Thus, sensor data 109may indicate that zone one has three boxes and zone 2 has one box. Thismay indicate, based on current production capacity at each zone, thatthe zone can either take on more boxes or is full and cannot take on anymore boxes at the time. If the pick zone can take on more boxes, thenincoming orders with packable items located in those zones may fulfilledby creating a box or other packaging material and sending that box tothe specified pick zone.

In addition to the number of boxes currently located in each zone, thesensor data 109 may indicate exactly which boxes are in the zone (aseach box is generated on-demand for each order), how long it will likelytake to fill the box with the respective packable items (based onprevious pick rates), and how long it takes to seal and complete boxesthat either have everything they need or are to be sent to another pickzone for fulfillment. Other information may also be used in determiningwhich conveyable items are to be induced onto the conveyor for the firstzone. For instance, the information may include a number of operationalpersons at each zone. The number of boxes produced for fulfillment in agiven zone may then be limited by the number of workers at each pickzone.

Still further, information used to determine which conveyable items areto be induced may include the physical length of boxes. For instance,each box may have a known physical size with physical dimensions. If,for example, the sum of the length of all boxes in a zone cannot begreater than X number of inches or feet, and that length has alreadybeen met by existing boxes already in the zone, no more boxes will beinduced to that zone until sufficient box size capacity has beencleared. It should also be noted that, in at least some embodiments,induction determinations may be made without any sensor data. Forexample, evaluations performed by the system may be carried out prior toreceiving sensor data from any hardware sensors. In such cases, theevaluation would be performed based on induction system informationspecific to each zone. Such information may include a current pick rateat each zone, a number of scheduled picks yet to occur in each zone,and/or a box limit in each zone. Other information may, of course, beused in the absence of sensor data to make the induction determination.

Additionally or alternatively, the information may include a totalnumber of picks needed to fulfill an order associated with theconveyable item. The number of boxes produced for fulfillment in a givenzone may thus be limited by the total number of picks that need to occurin the zone to fulfill that part of the order. The number of picks isroughly equivalent to or the same as the number of packable items thatare located in that pick zone. If however, an order requested a largenumber of the same product, the number of picks would go up even thoughthe picks were not for different products. Still further, theinformation used to determine which boxes to produce and when to producethem may include sensor data from a zone that is subsequent in positionto the first zone. Thus, the system may look at upcoming pick zoneahead, or the next two zones ahead, or the next three and so on in orderto determine when to produce the boxes (as generally shown in FIGS.3A-3I).

Hardware sensors may be provided in each pick zone to provideinformation on the current status of each zone. The feedback from thehardware sensors, in combination with data indicating which boxes havebeen produced and when those boxes were produced, provides a currentlocation of each conveyable item in the conveyor system. In someembodiments, the feedback analyzer may be configured to weigh thecurrent load at each pick zone versus the current pick rate at eachzone. If the load is high and the pick rate is high, it may be ok tosend another box to that zone. Whereas if the load is high at a givenzone, and the pick rate is low, it is likely not ok to send another boxto that zone. Thus, these factors may be weighed against each other andagainst other factors to determine the optimal time to produce a box andprovide it to the conveyor system 111.

The conveyor control system 101 may further be configured to generate anorganizational database structure that stores the received sensor data109. The organizational database structure includes informationindicating which packable items are to be loaded into a given box tofulfill an order. The data accessor 103 may then access thatorganizational database structure to identify operational environmentfactors that affect how the flow of items is controlled within theconveyor control system 101. Thus, the organizational database structuremay be designed to include those portions of data that are needed toproperly evaluate which boxes to produce and when to produce them. Anyof the factors described above may be included in the organizationaldatabase structure. A unique organizational data structure may begenerated for each pick zone, for each box, for each equipmentproduction machine 106 or a single organizational database structure maybe generated that includes information for all of the equipment andzones of the operational environment 110.

In one embodiment, a method implemented at a conveyor control system isprovided. The method includes various steps for controlling inductioninto and/or flow of items within the conveyor control system.Specifically, the method includes accessing sensor data received from ahardware sensor in a conveyor system. The sensor data providesinformation regarding the operational status of a pick zone in anoperational environment. As mentioned above, the pick zone is an areawhere packaging materials are loaded with packable items. The methodconcludes by evaluating the accessed sensor data to determine whichitems of packaging material are currently in the pick zone and, based onthe evaluation, producing an item of packaging material and inducingthat item of packaging material onto the conveyor for the pick zone.

The evaluation may be configured to access further informationindicating a current load at a plurality of different zones. Thus, whenperforming the evaluation, the conveyor control system may look atcurrent load values for multiple different pick zones indicating thenumber of packaging materials that are already in those zones. Thiscurrent load data from the different zones may be used to determinewhether a specified item of packaging material is to be generated andreleased into the conveyor system. In some cases, the evaluation mayadditionally access information indicating a number of zones each itemof packaging material is to go to complete fulfillment. Thus, if an itemof packaging material is to go to three different zones for fulfillment,while another item only needs to go to one pick zone, the box needingonly one pick zone may be generated and released first. Still further,the evaluation may take into account the number of workers at each pickzone, each worker's pick rate (i.e. the rate at which the worker placespackable items in boxes), or other factors that influence the efficiencyof each pick zone.

In one embodiment, if a certain number of pick zones are available, thenthe conveyor control system may establish a preferred box count at eachpick zone. This preferred box count may be adjusted to take into accountmultiple stops for different boxes. The preferred box count would act aslimit to the number of boxes currently in each pick zone. As boxes arefulfilled, new boxes can be introduced to maintain the preferred boxcount at each pick zone. This number of boxes may include the number ofboxes at the pick zone and also the number of boxes in the conveyorsystem with the specific pick zone as an upcoming destination (i.e. forboxes that need two or more pick zones for fulfillment). For example,additional boxes for a given pick zone may be induced if the currentboxes with that pick zone as an upcoming destination have multiple stopsbefore reaching that pick zone.

Additional optimizations may also be provided. For example, if box A hasone pick at pick zone 1 and one pick at pick zone 2 as an upcomingdestination, the induction system might not induce box B for pick zone 2due to induction and transportation time to reach pick zone 2 from theinduction area. If however, box A has five picks at pick zone 1, theinduction system may determine that it can induce box B to pick zone 2immediately due to the fact that boxes already in pick zone 2 would befulfilled and transported to the next destination before box A reachedpick zone 2. Accordingly, the evaluation may take into account thecurrent positions of boxes, as measured by various hardware sensors, aswell as which boxes are in the pick zones, how many picks they need ateach zone for fulfillment, and how many pick zones each box needs totravel to for ultimate fulfillment. Thus, a low number of boxes in onepick zone may trigger more boxes flowing to that zone, and a high numberof boxes in another pick zone may prevent the flow of boxes to that pickzone for a specified amount of time.

Accordingly, methods, systems and computer program products are providedwhich control the flow of items within a conveyor system. The conceptsand features described herein may be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from their spirit or descriptive characteristics. Thedescribed embodiments are to be considered in all respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is,therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

I claim:
 1. A method, implemented at a conveyor control system thatincludes at least one processor, for controlling induction of itemswithin a conveyor system, the method comprising: implementing a firsthardware sensor in a first zone of a conveyor system to generate sensorreadings regarding an operational status of at least the first zone inan operational environment, wherein: the conveyor system carries boxeswithin and between multiple different zones, the operational statuscomprises information relating to the boxes within the first zone, andat least one other zone selected from the multiple different zones doesnot comprise hardware sensor; receiving sensor data from the firsthardware sensor of the conveyor system, the sensor data comprisinginformation for controlling the conveyor system; evaluating the sensordata to determine which conveyable boxes are currently in the firstzone; generate extrapolated data based upon the sensor data, wherein theextrapolated data indicates which boxes are to travel to the at leastone other zone; and based on the evaluation and the extrapolated data,inducing one or more conveyable boxes onto the conveyor system and intothe first zone.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operationalenvironment comprises a plurality of zones including the first zone andat least a second zone.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of thesecond zone has its own hardware sensor configured to generate sensorreadings regarding the operational status of its respective zone.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the sensor data includes an indication of anumber of conveyable items at each zone.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising evaluating visual inspection data received from acamera determining which conveyable items are to be induced onto theconveyor for the first zone.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising evaluating radio frequency identifier tags when determiningwhich conveyable items are to be induced onto the conveyor for the firstzone.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluatinginformation from weight sensors when determining which conveyable itemsare to be induced onto the conveyor for the first zone.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising evaluating information from pressure sensorswhen determining which conveyable items are to be induced onto theconveyor for the first zone.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising evaluating information from acoustic sensors when determiningwhich conveyable items are to be induced onto the conveyor for the firstzone.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information from thehardware sensor, in combination with information from one or more otherhardware sensors in one or more other zones provides a current locationof each conveyable item in the conveyor system.